Monthly Roundup

Dear Colleague:

I am writing from the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. Dr. Wendy Ring, of Climate 911, will be featured in our September newsletter as Champion of the Month to highlight her dedicated creative work to promote climate change solutions. The August newsletter is below. We encourage you to please sign up to be an Advocate for the Climate & Health, or at the very least, please sign up to receive the monthly newsletter, which will include news, action alerts, and opportunities for making a difference in the realm of climate and health.

The Consortium has the mission of informing the public and policy makers about the harmful health effects of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions. Our member organizations include 16 medical societies, representing more than half the doctors in the United States.

The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives that explores policy options which address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing climate. Its membership of more than 50 congressional members is equally balanced between Republicans and Democrats.

Learn about how pediatrician, Dr. Samantha Ahdoot's personal experience tipped her over the edge from awareness into action in the arena of climate change and health, particularly in Virginia where she lives. READ MORE

The Largest Wind Farm in the U.S. Is Growing in Oklahoma. It’s a Sign of the Times (Climate Central)

A new wind farm that could become the largest in the U.S. will be taking shape across the blustery plains of the Oklahoma Panhandle over the next three years, helping to wean four Southern states off electricity produced with climate-polluting coal. READ MORE

Why California’s Climate Change Fight Is Also About Public Health. (TIME)
California has long been among the most polluted states in the nation. Today, eight out of ten Californians live in a county with toxic air that contributes to a range of health problems such as asthma, heart disease and even lung cancer.READ MORE

Climate change is harming our health.

Air pollution deaths expected to rise because of climate change. (CBS News)
New research predicts that air pollution worsened by climate change will cost tens of thousands of lives if changes are not made. READ MORE

Air pollution exposure in early pregnancy may lead to premature delivery (Independent)
Exposure to air pollution in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy could increase the risk of premature birth and low birth weight, scientists have warned.The UK Government has announced it will ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 READ MORE

If we don’t act it will get worse

‘Flash drought’ could devastate half the High Plains wheat harvest. (grist)
It’s peak hurricane season, but the nation’s worst weather disaster right now is raging on the High Plains. READ MORE

The surprising way climate change could worsen toxic algal blooms (Washington Post)
A new study, out Thursday in the journal Science, suggests that increased rainfall in the coming decades may wash more agricultural nutrients and fertilizers — including nitrogen, a prime cause of toxic algae growth — into our waterways. READ MORE

Two studies predict Earth to warm 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century (CNN)
The impact on human health would be profound. Rising temperatures and shifts in weather would lead to reduced air quality, food, and water contamination, more infections carried by mosquitoes and ticks and stress on mental health, according to a recent report from the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. READ MORE